Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #10

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#10 Corn

Corn fattens up America’s beef cattle, accounting for 90% of U.S. feed grains61. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) fattens up America’s human population. More land (more than 80 million acres) is planted in corn than any other crop. More pesticides62 and more chemical fertilizer63 are used to grow corn in the US than any other crop. Most of the corn, almost 50 million acres of it, is GM corn64. Less than 0.016% of corn production is organic65. If we change corn production, we change agriculture.

Off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico is a dead zone about the size of New Jersey where aquatic life cannot survive. It doubled in size between 1985 and 1999. According to the Congressional Research Service, the main cause of this dead zone is fertilizer runoff – from corn production – that ends up first in the Mississippi River, and then dumps into the Gulf. It’s a powerful picture of the cost of industrial corn production66.

Changing this tenth item on the prescription is the toughest one, only intended for those most committed to change. To adopt organic corn means looking at every ingredient label. If there is corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn sweetener, dextrose, glucose, cornstarch, modified cornstarch, vegetable starch, corn solids, or corn oil – choose organic. It means skipping most sodas and many baked goods. More than 4000 US products contain corn as an ingredient67. And this doesn’t count all the corn used in livestock production. To select organic corn means selecting organic meat, poultry and dairy.

The industrial production of conventional corn has a devastating impact on the American landscape: our soil, our air, our livestock, and our waters. Switching from conventional to organic corn is extremely difficult, but it could do wonders for the health of your family. And no other change would improve the health of so many acres of cropland.

Dr. Greene is the founder of DrGreene.com (cited by the AMA as “the pioneer physician Web site”), a practicing pediatrician, father of four, & author of Raising Baby Green & Feeding Baby Green. He appears frequently in the media including such venues as the The New York Times, the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, & the Dr. Oz Show.